Thursday, September 04, 2008

Swedish Lingonberry Cake Recipe



Remember my recipe for Canadian Apple Pie? Well, it's been one of my most popular recipes - and for a good reason, as it's incredibly tasty. BUT. None of my Canadian friends could recognise the cake, that is to say, they loved the cake, but couldn't confirm its Canadian origin.

I'm a bit afraid this Swedish Lingonberry Cake recipe is the same. You see, the recipe is from a Finnish women's weekly magazine, Me Naiset, where it was published in September 2005 and called "Ruotsalainen puolukkakakku" (that's "Swedish lingonberry cake"). But I've got no particular reason to believe it's Swedish, so I apologise beforehand to all my Swedish readers :)

As I'm off to a Stockholm day cruise next Monday, I thought it's appropriate to share the recipe with you. It's a bit drier than my usual forest berry cakes, but it's tasty. A bit crumbly, almost with a shortcake-like texture. With a strong cardamom flavour, it's festive and somewhat old-fashioned. And different. We liked it, and I hope you'll like it, too.

Oh, and the lingonberries were picked by K's mum. I've got enough for another 5 lingonberry cakes :)

Swedish lingonberry cake
(Rootsi pohlakook)
Serves 10-12

1 large egg
100 ml caster sugar
100 g butter, melted
350 ml plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp freshly ground cardamom seeds

For the topping:
400 ml whole lingonberries
75 ml caster sugar

Whisk the egg with the sugar, then add the melted butter and dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cardamom seeds). You'll get a moist and pretty hard dough. Press that into a buttered and/or lined cake tin (appr. 20-23 cm in diameter).
Scatter lingonberries on top and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 175 Centigrade for 45 minutes, until the cake is cooked through.

Serve at room temperature with some ice cream or custard or whipped cream.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hang the providence! Lingonberries are so spectacular, it's been so long since I've had fresh ones. And the color! Have a fun time --

Anne said...

Haha - no, I can't say I'd recognize the Swedish part, but it looks like a great cake nonetheless :)

Ragne said...

see näeb nii isuäratav välja Pille. Eile toodi just mulle suur purgitäis pohlamoosi. Ei tea kas tervete pohlade asemel võib seda kooki moosiga teha?

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Thanks to IKEA, lingonberries are easy to come by in the US now. It will be fun to try this recipe -- and it doesn't matter a bit whether it is really Swedish or not!

Karen Baking Soda said...

Oh Pille, I simply adore lingonberries! Really going to make this one, thnks!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Pille, I absolutely love cakes with fruit - this is such a wonderful color!

ChichaJo said...

It looks brilliant! And if it's anywhere near as good as the Canadian Apple Cake I'll surely love it to bits! Unfortunately no lingonberries here...

Anonymous said...

The cardamon is a wonderful addition to the cake, that in my book, makes it very Scandinavian. I will try this recipe improvising with some fresh picked huckleberries I have in my refrigerator waiting to be used.

Anonymous said...

I made the cake with our mulberries, and it turned out great. I had it for breakfast, warm with a scoop of yogurt. Thanks for your recipe.

Jeanne said...

I still haven't had lingonberries but love the lingonberry juice I get from IKEA! Your cake looks fabulous and the cardamom just hooked me :)

Anonymous said...

Yes...Lingonberries are Scandinavian....but the name you list looks Finnish. We have them in Northern Canada/Alaska as well.

Alanna Kellogg said...

Haha -- Hang the PROVENANCE, Alanna, not the PROVIDENCE. Here I am seven years later, correcting my own word usage while looking for ways to use a big batch of lingonberry preserves. Watch your mail for a call for HELP ...